


Flashing Back

by sbuggbot



Category: SteamWorld Quest (Video Game)
Genre: Both of the twins have PTSD, Don't copy to another site, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Past Child Abuse, Panic Attacks, Team Dad Orik
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-13
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:08:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,337
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21763489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sbuggbot/pseuds/sbuggbot
Summary: The children have been through A Lot, even before they met the rest of the team. Sometimes it's downright overwhelming for them, and it presents itself in them in different ways.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 4





	1. Upside Down

**Author's Note:**

> First I had the mental image that led to this part, and then I realized that my last fic was Thayne-focused too (EDIT WHOOPS I MEAN THE ONE BEFORE THAT) and decided I was going to write another part for Tarah. (which I am still writing on as I post this, go me! I don't have the patience to write something in full before sharing it anymore please help)
> 
> No I don't know why I have been fixating on the twins this much lately.

Thayne could feel the dread creeping around him and choking him like vines. This wasn’t good, he needed to get somewhere with people nearby and soon. He’d been through this before and he knew what was coming. Where was Tarah, where was _anything..._ his mind was already struggling to process things around him. He wandered into one of the main rooms and saw Orik. Orik was good. It didn’t matter that Thayne was nervous about approaching him about something so urgent; he needed to have someone nearby and _now._

Orik was startled out of his thoughts when he felt something grab his leg, making him jump. Confused, he looked down from what he was working on on the counter. Thayne was clinging onto his leg and staring ahead. He hadn't even heard the little one come up to him.

"Thayne? Is something wrong?" Orik asked. He got no reply, not even the slightest acknowledgment that he had been heard. Cautiously, Orik reached down and patted Thayne's head.

Still nothing. He didn't move and seemed just as tense as before. At least it hadn't scared him from what Orik could see. Thayne had been increasingly turning to people besides Tarah for hugs and attention as of late---undoubtedly a sign of how much he was growing to trust the rest of the party---but he didn't ever become unresponsive like this. 

This might still be him attempting to comfort himself, Orik decided. He didn't see a point in trying to stop him; he wasn't hurting anybody or anything. "Alright, you can stay there if you want. Let me know if you need something, okay?"

After a while, Thayne's grip on him tightened. He started shaking. His little fingers dug deeper into the small gaps in Orik's plating. It indeed hurt, but Orik wasn't about to make his discomfort clear while Thayne was so bothered.

At this point, Orik was genuinely wondering if Thayne was seeing some threat that he couldn't. _Stay calm, he likely doesn't need you panicking too,_ Orik reminded himself. "Hey, I'm here," he said as he resumed rubbing the top of the boy's head. "I've got you…"

Orik wasn’t sure if Thayne could actually hear him, but he wanted to try as hard as he could to reassure him that he was still there however he could. He locked his knee in an attempt to give Thayne some extra stability while he held on. Might make the joint unhappy later, but if it helped Thayne then he was willing to do it until his leg gave way.

All at once, Thayne let off a cloud of steam and relaxed with a sigh. He was still holding onto Orik's leg but at this point, he was more leaning on it than holding it in a death grip.

"Thayne?" Orik said now that Thayne had moved significantly for the first time in the past ten minutes. "Are you okay?"

Thayne made a noncommittal grunt and leaned his head against Orik's leg tiredly. "I think I am now…"

It was relieving to hear Thayne respond but Orik was still worried. "What happened?"

"B-bad memories…" It was like he was trapped in a dark void, suffocated by the darkness as he was forced to relive his worst memories all at once, over and over again. The managers threatening to split him and his sister up if they didn’t cooperate, being put to work for mercenaries, nearly being killed by a beast when they split off on their own...the list went on. He couldn't block them out or run away no matter how hard he tried. Very little of the outside world could reach him whenever it happened.

Sometimes he'd be trapped in this hell for a couple of hours (or what felt like it), only being dumped back into the physical world when his scarred mind decided it was time. Tarah could only help so much whenever it happened; the intensity around Thayne's feelings typically threw her into an overwhelming panic and stressed him out further in a vicious cycle. 

Orik shifted, prompting Thayne to release his leg and mumble, "Sorry."

"It's alright, Thayne, I really don't mind." Orik lowered himself to the ground and sat down at Thayne's level. He didn't like looming over either of the twins, especially when they were having a more serious or heartfelt discussion. "Especially if anchoring yourself like that helps you calm down."

Thayne rubbed his eye and scooted up to Orik. "I-I think that fit was shorter than they usually are." A pause. "It's kinda fuzzy but I think I started hearing you and that helped me come back too." 

"I'm really glad to know I could help. Those kinds of episodes are scary to watch and even scarier to go through, I imagine." Orik took Thayne scooting closer as a cue to hug him and did so without a second thought. 

"Mm-hmm. Thanks, Dad…"

There was a moment where Orik was so overwhelmed by Thayne's small act of gratitude that he didn't know what to say. The fact that he was there was plenty for Thayne at the moment.

"Does Tarah have episodes like that?" Orik asked after a while.

Shaking his head, Thayne said, "She doesn't have visions and zone out like I do. She usually feels all the feelings and gets fighty and grouchy toward other people. Other times she wakes up really stressed and nervous but she tries to hide it."

"That's good to know…"

At that moment Tarah staggered in, shaking from empathetic stress. She knew Thayne had had a fit, she could feel it. "Wh-where's Thay--" She stopped, confused. She hadn't expected to see Thayne already aware again and calming down. It always took quite a while for him to come back to reality. "Huh?"

"Tarah!" Thayne was relieved to see his sister and stretched out his arms for hugs. "I had a fit again…"

She hugged him back without hesitation. "You've never had one that short, though…"

"I think my presence helped him ground himself sooner," Orik said. 

To be truthful, (which she wasn't going to be out loud at the moment), Tarah was extremely jealous that Orik had managed to bring Thayne out of his episode faster and better than she ever had. She was his twin sister, they knew each other better than anyone else!

"I've known him our whole lives and you manage to calm him down that quick," she muttered.

"I've been around a lot longer than either of you, I'm bound to have more experience with these situations. Besides, I really didn't know what was happening until after he calmed down… I was just trying to reassure him I was there."

Tarah grumbled some more.

Orik put a hand on her back. "And I wouldn't have been able to calm him down _afterwards_ the way you can."

"'n you still helped me so much when we were on our own," Thayne mumbled. "I just went to Orik because I didn't want to be by myself."

While she didn't say anything Tarah did feel more content with how things had happened just now. If Orik hadn't been there for Thayne to anchor on...he'd probably still be trapped in his own mind and she'd be a basket case herself from seeing (and feeling!) him that way. 

It really was okay to trust these people...


	2. Cracked Bottle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I said I was going to post the second part of this on Friday on my Tumblr so here we go
> 
> Somewhat related to the first part but both stories can function on their own, really.

She must have had a nightmare and couldn’t remember it, she thought. 

Why else would her body be so flooded with stress and this feeling that something was going to go wrong, and soon? She literally just woke up. Tarah pulled the blanket closer around her and huddled up to her brother, hoping the feeling would fade soon. 

Unfortunately, it didn’t.

Tarah stayed in place long enough for Thayne to wake up on his own. It might seem like it took a rocket scientist to figure out how Tarah felt sometimes, but it came naturally for Thayne. “Nightmare?”

“I. I dunno,” Tarah mumbled. She lowered her voice to the barest of whispers. “I’m really scared and I don’t know why.” With that admission out, she hid her face in the blankets and tried to get her breathing back in order. Even with her brother, she had trouble actually  _ saying _ when she felt frightened. Right now, she almost felt sick from fear.

Thayne hugged his sister--well, the part of his sister he could reach--and patted her. “We’re safe here, aren’t we? I think it’ll be okay.”

Shaking a little bit, Tarah emerged from the blankets and hugged him back. “I think so.”

“We’ve made it this far…”

That was the encouragement Tarah needed to put on her brave face and face the world. She’s been through this before when the stakes were higher. This shouldn’t be too bad.

* * *

Tarah looked up from her seat. Benji was seated right in front of her and looking directly at her. “Galleo, get your bird off the table,” she mumbled. 

“He’s just saying hello!”

“Hello there,” Tarah said to the bird, more to humor Galleo than anything. “Feet stay below the tabletop, isn’t that one of the rules?”

“That’s a people rule!” Armilly said as if Copernica hadn’t just had to swat her feet off the table a couple of minutes ago. “And besides, Benji’s small.”

“Go back to your ‘daddy’ or I’m stuffing you in my pocket,” she said. Tarah brought her hand up to prove her point, and Benji decided not to risk such a fate again and returned to Galleo’s shoulder. He still kept an eye on her from out of arm’s reach.

Tarah found herself focusing more on the fact she _still_ felt anxious than whatever the others were talking about. Why was it sticking around like this, nothing extreme had happened recently...

Someone said her name. "What?"

"Are you two planning on going on some adventure today?"

“I guess,” Tarah said with a bored look on her face. 

“Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah?” Tarah replied in a way that just barely convinced anyone.

“You’re just shaking a lot,” Galleo said. “And Benji hasn’t wanted to leave you alone.”

She held her hand out and saw that it was indeed shaking. “Huh. Weird.” She hadn’t had that happen when she’d been stressed and under pressure before.

“Coffee jitters!” Armilly decided. “Something I’m not allowed to have, apparently.”

“Because you don’t get jitters, you turn into the Coffee Powered Tasmanian Devil,” Copernica said. “We all know that.” Orik looked guilty for a moment. He had learned his lesson the hard way. Armilly is not allowed to have coffee for a  _ reason _ .

“I don’t even like coffee that much,” Tarah said. Besides, her heart was already going a mile a minute without any stimulants.

“But really though, are you feeling okay?

“What are you, a cop?” Tarah snarked.

“No, I just have a genuine concern for your well-being,” Orik snarked right back. Then the mischievous smile dropped. “I’m concerned and I don’t want to force you into something you’re not up to right now.”

That seemed to get her. She was so caught off guard, in fact, that she stopped masking her feelings for a moment. Then, she realized couldn’t tuck the feelings away back in their box. The brave face was gone and everyone in the room started to see how nervous she actually felt.

“Tarah…?”

Tarah folded her ears down, tugged her hood over her face, and slipped off her chair and onto the floor with the littlest whimper. She was at her breaking point and she hated that she had reached it out here, in front of everyone else. Immediately, Thayne hopped off his own seat and hugged Tarah tight, letting her hide her face in his chest. 

The others came around the table to get a better look but stayed a distance so Tarah didn’t feel crowded. “This isn’t like you, what’s wrong?” Armilly asked, making an effort not to shout on accident. 

“ _ I don’t know, _ I can’t make it stop! I just--I just woke up feeling like this,” she half cried, half whined into Thayne’s hood. She felt vulnerable and helpless and even if she needed to let her feelings out she didn’t like it.

“Woke up feeling like---oh.” Orik began before he realized. This appeared to be what Thayne meant. He sat down with the twins. “It’s alright, you’re safe here. You can feel what you need to.”

“If I’m safe, why do I feel so.. _.nnng _ ,” Tarah got tangled up on her own words. She either lacked the words to describe what she felt or she couldn’t make herself actually say it.

“‘Cause you’re finally somewhere where you can feel things without getting attacked?” Galleo suggested. “Sometimes I don’t freak out until after I’m back home and away from everything and it’s all over.”

"You've probably been bottling up and holding this in for a long time without really thinking about it. Feelings don't go away when you do that."

The group had moved a bit closer to Tarah and her brother seeing that she was being more receptive to being consoled now. Armilly didn’t have what she thought were the correct words, but what she did have was the Soft Blanket that stayed on the couch. It was there to provide comfort whenever needed. Tarah accepted the offering of blanket without any resistance or complaint. 

In the midst of her confusion and tears, Tarah asked, “Why are you guys being so  _ nice  _ to me?”

“Because we all care and want you guys to be happy. Cog knows you’ve struggled enough already.”

Once again overwhelmed (this time in a good way), Tarah hid her face against Thayne again. “She says thanks,” he explained. 

Tarah was too overwhelmed with her own feelings to process what the others were saying at this point, but she could tell they didn’t sound mad at her. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. Maybe it wasn’t a bad thing, then?

**Author's Note:**

> Yell at me on my Tumblr if you want: [sbuggbot.tumblr.com](sbuggbot.tumblr.com)  
> (Or just chat if you don't want to shout, that's ok)


End file.
